Dateline July 2018…….In a recent consulting session with a dealership, both the dealer and the management team were surprised to learn that an incentives metrics report even existed. Once we logged into it, they were shocked that they had “red flag” areas–areas that the manufacturer had identified where this dealership was utilizing specific incentive programs at a much higher rate than other dealers in their zone and region.
Once we went over the red flags–areas where deal compliance needed to be reviewed ASAP, we also discussed the areas where other dealers were doing a great job utilizing incentive programs–incentives that their dealership wasn’t using. My question was how other dealers in their Zone–same geographic location–were selling to First Responders at 4% – 5% of the time, College Graduates 3%-4% of the time, and they had NONE–ZERO sales to these two groups of buyers in the past 12 months. It was simple–these incentive programs were not on the radar of the sales team and no one was looking for them, and they certainly weren’t offering them when they were working a deal. Was it costing them $? Yes. Was it costing them deals? ABSOLUTELY.
If you haven’t looked at your Metrics Report recently, stop, drop, and do this:
- Generate the report
- Add any program that isn’t automatically populated that you want to monitor
- Highlight any area that the manufacturer has in red–you are on their radar for a possible audit.
- Highlight any incentive program where you are behind other dealers in your zone–they are making deals that you are missing.
- If you or your team can’t complete all 4 of these steps, give us a call or send us an email–we will be happy to help you.
Ignorance is not bliss……